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| - Fact Check: These photos are NOT from Vande Bharat Express that was pelted with stones in Bengal
Many on social media shared photos taken inside an air-conditioned train compartment, claiming them to be from the Vande Bharat Express after the train was attacked with stones on the evening of January 2.
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India Today Fact Check
Although Vande Bharat was hit by stones on January 2 evening, these images are from the Howrah-Purulia Express that has hit by stones on January 1, 2023.
Days after the inaugural journey of the first Vande Bharat Express in West Bengal on December 30, 2022, the train made the headlines after it was attacked with stones on the evening of January 2. Following this, many on social media shared photos taken inside an air-conditioned train compartment, claiming them to be from the Vande Bharat Express.
For instance, a Twitter handle named Asansol BJP District Organisation shared a set of two images featuring a man with a bandage on his face and seats covered in blood and shattered glasses. The tweet read: "Stone pelted on Vande Bharat train in West Bengal. The train was inaugurated on 30 Dec by Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji. Is this the reply to Jai Shri Ram, CM @MamataOfficial? Shame!"
Many also shared a photo where the window of an AC chair car can be seen shattered, with seats covered in glass and blood. "As per eyewitness @RuprajSengupta, the C13 coach of #VandeBharatExpress was damaged due to stone pelting at Kumarganj [KMRJ], Maldah, WB in the evening yesterday while returning from New Jalpaiguri Junction [NJP], proving my point that we need to kick out internal enemies first," the tweet read. Archived versions of such posts can be seen here and here.
Bengal BJP President Dr Sukanata Majumdar shared these photos and criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but later deleted the tweet.
Times Now also published a report on the incident while featuring the same photo of the bloodstained seat.
AFWA's probe found that these images are unrelated to the recent Vande Bharat stone-pelting incident.
AFWA Probe
When we searched keywords related to the recent stone-pelting incident, reports from ABP News and TV9 Bangla suggested that no passengers were harmed. Reportedly, a glass door of a compartment was shattered. They also mentioned that the incident took place near Samsi, in the Malda district of West Bengal.
A reverse image search of the viral images took us to a Facebook post by Pranabesh Sen, an office executive at the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL). Sen shared these images while penning his horrifying experience of stone-pelting while returning to his native district of Bankura from Howrah in the 12827 Howrah-Purulia Superfast Express. Notably, Sen shared these images on January 1, 2023, a day before the Vande Bharat stone-pelting incident, making it clear that the images were unrelated to that.
In his Facebook post, Sen noted that the incident happened on the first day of the new year near the Panshkura town of the East Medinipur district in West Bengal around 5:48 pm. He also noted that the coach number he was in was D3 and the seat number of an injured passenger was 73.
We also found the seat arrangement and colour of the newly inaugurated HWH-NJP Vande Bharat Express in a video shared by AajTak Bangla. A comparison between the seats of the Premium and Executive classes of the Vande Bharat and the viral photos made it clear that the latter were not from the Vande Bharat Express at all.
AFWA also reached out to Sen, who said: "I remember the exact time when it happened because I was taking a call. Just when the train was near Panshkura junction, the person who was sitting in the window side was struck by a stone and the window shattered and fell on him. His face was injured, his teeth broke and there was blood over his face. The person was in severe pain."
He said that the injured passenger was taken to the hospital by the station master at the Kharagpur Junction, adding that he did not see any Railway Protection Force personnel following the incident and that no one approached him to report what happened.
Sen also shared the original photographs with AFWA. Upon examining the Exif data, we found that these photos were taken on January 1, near the Panshkura Station. The photos were shot at 5:53 pm, nearly five minutes after the stone hit the window.
Moreover, the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express runs from Howrah to the New Jalpaiguri Junction via Barddhaman, Bolpur, and Malda Town. On the other hand, the Purulia express leaves from Howrah and takes the southeastern route via Kharagpur, which is in a completely different direction. The Panshkura Station does not fall in the Vande Bharat Express route.
Thus, it is safe to conclude that the images making rounds are not from the Vande Bharat Express but from the Howrah-Purulia Express and were shot a day before the December 2 stone-pelting incident.
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